Xerxes Break (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
payingfordeliverance) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deercountry2022-08-25 10:06 pm
payingfordeliverance) wrote in deercountry2022-08-25 10:06 pm
006: So tell me where to put my love
Who: Xerxes Break, close CR, possibly new people
What: Break runs afoul of the Lavish Desires prompt and goes on a darkblood bender about conjuring up unbirthday presents. Some prompts closed, two prompts open to all.
When: Second half of August
Where: Pandora House + avoiding Pandora House so his kids don't yell at him for overdoing stupid shit again
Content Warnings: Obsessive feelings and mania, flooding, drowning, PTSD, withering illness and struggling to breathe, that whole thing where he used to be a serial killer back in the day; others added as necessary
As so often happens for Xerxes Break, Trench's latest idiotic curse on him appears, at first glance, to be little more than a fit of nerves about his usual problems.
First, he becomes thoroughly gripped by the notion that he needs to train harder and harder in the darkblood powers he was so afraid of for so long and still doesn't entirely trust -- well, that makes fine sense. Even outside of his concern about keeping up with those who are stronger than he is in this place, incidents in July proved to him that the practical applications of his work will be worth the risks. Break also finds himself haunted by an awkward need to express his affections to the people he's grown so attached to here. This, too, mostly just feels like a preoccupation that is a long time coming. The first anniversary of his arrival in Trench is swift approaching and Break is painfully aware of it. The many regrets he's been fostering about how he wasn't able to truly reach out to his loved ones in his last life until the very end of it are all the more potent now, and a recent decision to really try to be honest about things was enough to halt Ange's progressing beasthood even if he wasn't able to reverse it. Then, too, Oz Vessalius returned to the sea recently and left the whole house in a pall of grief in his wake. Loss has made Break restless and searching for motivation for as long as he can remember. The main ways he can find to cope with this one all have to do with pouring his attention into others who are still around to need him.
So, it seems only natural when all this culminates in an urge to conjure up unbirthday presents for everyone. This is way easier and less embarrassing than words, and also it will give him plenty of conjuring practice. Definitely this is just Xerxes Break thinking his thoughts and has nothing to do with a dunk in icky cursed floodwaters.
Break's omen, of course, catches on quickly to this whole thing where it devolves into a manic obsession almost immediately. Baltus decides, in his wisdom, to simply let Break have at it. For one thing, it will be good to give him the opportunity to actually catch himself and reach out for help on his own, even if chances are slim to nonexistent that this will happen. For another, Break is the sort of person who needs to learn things the hard way sometimes -- and, if Baltus intervenes, it will just clue Break in to ways he could and should be sneakier about his bad behaviors. If Break is permitted to crash and burn, the kids will notice, and he won't be able to hide the very specific warning signs they need to be keeping an eye out for in the future.
Meh. If Break starts growing beast parts in all this, Baltus will sound the alarm. And so begins the unbirthday bender.
What: Break runs afoul of the Lavish Desires prompt and goes on a darkblood bender about conjuring up unbirthday presents. Some prompts closed, two prompts open to all.
When: Second half of August
Where: Pandora House + avoiding Pandora House so his kids don't yell at him for overdoing stupid shit again
Content Warnings: Obsessive feelings and mania, flooding, drowning, PTSD, withering illness and struggling to breathe, that whole thing where he used to be a serial killer back in the day; others added as necessary
As so often happens for Xerxes Break, Trench's latest idiotic curse on him appears, at first glance, to be little more than a fit of nerves about his usual problems.
First, he becomes thoroughly gripped by the notion that he needs to train harder and harder in the darkblood powers he was so afraid of for so long and still doesn't entirely trust -- well, that makes fine sense. Even outside of his concern about keeping up with those who are stronger than he is in this place, incidents in July proved to him that the practical applications of his work will be worth the risks. Break also finds himself haunted by an awkward need to express his affections to the people he's grown so attached to here. This, too, mostly just feels like a preoccupation that is a long time coming. The first anniversary of his arrival in Trench is swift approaching and Break is painfully aware of it. The many regrets he's been fostering about how he wasn't able to truly reach out to his loved ones in his last life until the very end of it are all the more potent now, and a recent decision to really try to be honest about things was enough to halt Ange's progressing beasthood even if he wasn't able to reverse it. Then, too, Oz Vessalius returned to the sea recently and left the whole house in a pall of grief in his wake. Loss has made Break restless and searching for motivation for as long as he can remember. The main ways he can find to cope with this one all have to do with pouring his attention into others who are still around to need him.
So, it seems only natural when all this culminates in an urge to conjure up unbirthday presents for everyone. This is way easier and less embarrassing than words, and also it will give him plenty of conjuring practice. Definitely this is just Xerxes Break thinking his thoughts and has nothing to do with a dunk in icky cursed floodwaters.
Break's omen, of course, catches on quickly to this whole thing where it devolves into a manic obsession almost immediately. Baltus decides, in his wisdom, to simply let Break have at it. For one thing, it will be good to give him the opportunity to actually catch himself and reach out for help on his own, even if chances are slim to nonexistent that this will happen. For another, Break is the sort of person who needs to learn things the hard way sometimes -- and, if Baltus intervenes, it will just clue Break in to ways he could and should be sneakier about his bad behaviors. If Break is permitted to crash and burn, the kids will notice, and he won't be able to hide the very specific warning signs they need to be keeping an eye out for in the future.
Meh. If Break starts growing beast parts in all this, Baltus will sound the alarm. And so begins the unbirthday bender.
no subject
Break's tone when he answers is lofty and smug, and he pronounces "nerd" as though it is a helpful foreign word which he has learned to use correctly in a sentence and is very proud of.
This is because that is exactly how he feels about this word. Up to now he has had to use more specific terms, like "bookworm" or "deranged mad scientist". This new word is just so much more applicable to so many different varieties of people who sit at desks on purpose!
"For this, one needs to take notes, isn't that so? Look, I've pens in many colors and everything."
no subject
"Okay, but what kind of nerd training are we talking about?" He asked, picking up one of the multi-colored pens. Dipper's influence here was obvious in the color-coded planning stages alone.
"Is it ghosts and banishment? Talking with the Pthumerians? Or trying to make your own Semblance?"
1/2
Partially because he is very busy at present and cannot be sidetracked from his goals. Partially because Qrow is going to be way better at helping to brainstorm a dramatic, edgy name for it, which is essential here.
2/2
"Well, it's getting my darkblood nonsense sorted, is what it is," he says, ultimately. "I loathe the stuff, but my dabbling has already proven itself to be far too useful to leave it lie. If you only pick up a sword when you need one you're as liable to kill yourself with it as the thing you're actually aiming for, you know?"
The duality of Xerxes Break: Weaponry metaphors while parked in front of a musical princess movie marathon.
no subject
Wasn't that, roughly, what he had been doing this entire time?
"I never thought of that,"
He admitted, a ponderous look on his youthful face.
"That magic could be something to experiment with. I've only been using it when I have to, because it kinda scares me. What all have you figured out so far?"
no subject
"...if you don't experiment, how will you come to find out what you're able to do at all? Even in a situation where one is learning a spell from a book, somebody had to sort out how to make that spell in the first place, right?"
Is this going to turn out to be a situation where everything the Remnant people know about magic was delivered directly from some god or other Qrow's mad at or something? Break will leave the other things unanswered until he gets to the bottom of this.
no subject
Hazel eyes widened briefly as Oscar realized exactly how strange his circumstances were...
"If I need a piece of info, it's already right there." He admitted, casting his sparkly uncle a chagrinned look. "If it's something normal that one of the guys before me knew, like knowing what kinda teapot a headmaster I never met had on his table, I can kinda see it like a memory."
A shrug. It had unnerved him the first time it had happened, but he had gotten used to having little details he had no way of knowing just bubbling up to the surface. His soul contained a hidden spring. But, there was more.
"Magic also doesn't technically exist on Remnant. I only figured out how to do some things because otherwise...."
He made an uneasy face-- and smacked his hands together.
Break's own vibrant imagination could fill in the details.
no subject
Which is to say, Break's understanding of exactly what he is dealing with here has just deepened considerably, perhaps far more than Oscar was anticipating with this explanation.
"Fortunately, now that we are here and there is no going back, Remnant in particular has become a pile of chains to be cast off," he concludes at length. "Given that, let me ask you something I once asked my own Oz, back when Pandora at large believed him to be the reincarnation of a legendary hero."
He leans forward a little. In the background, the ballgown princess's mice are singing about what a beautiful dress they are going to put together for their dear friend, toiling horribly under her wicked stepmother's machinations.
"Just who are you?"
no subject
Oscar, suddenly uncertain, focused in on the brightly colored little mice on screen as they sang about how they would help their princess instead of looking directly at the sparkly man that seemed to see right through him. He appreciated Xerxes Break and everything he knew about the man, but this turn towards the more serious philosophical struggles he had fought for the last three years was far from what he expected.
"I, um..."
Words failed him, because Break was right. Remnant was chains to be thrown off-- he knew this. It was why he did everything he could to destroy those connections, including breaking the relic that represented his soul during the dream's final collapse. Feeling adrift, he looked askance at Break.
It was no wonder that Qrow liked him so much.
"I'm just me. There's stuff I have that's not mine, but I'm just me."
no subject
The flood curse that has addled Break's mind has not turned off his mentor habit at all, it turns out. But, Oscar's answer satisfies him. If he's able to give that answer, he's at least gotten started on defining himself outside of the half-finished merge with Ozpin. Break doesn't believe for an instant that it isn't an issue that will come up again and again, but this beginning will give the boy some actual ground to stand on as he moves forward in Trench.
The moment passes. Break resumes the usual amiably placid expression that conceals the machinations going on underneath, and adds some scribbles to his journal.
"Then, to answer your earlier question, for me the main trick thus far seems to be a certain sense of familiarity. I could likely conjure a sword in my sleep, as I've been training since I could hold one at all. But, things that don't feel so natural to me take a great deal more work and often come out a little wrong. I am investigating tricks to get around that."
no subject
And, Oscar listened to Break's words. The notion of practice did make sense, especially in this context.
"So... that's why you're practicing," Oscar ventured. "What kinda things do you think you would want to conjure up?"
no subject
"Ehhh, I think most anything is worthwhile to have a go at. Practice is practice, right? Mm, but -- my cool magic sword and the fake Aura are a start that suits me well. My duty has always been to protect those around me, you know?"
A pause.
"Also, Mister Qrow does love his horrible spicy snacks that come in the crinkly bags that are annoying to open."
Admitting that he will learn magic to conjure spicy cheetos for his boyfriend is okay, because it's dumb.
no subject
"Why not just conjure him his own snack pantry?"
He asked, in all seriousness.
"He had one in the dream. It gave him an endless supply of crunchy, spicy snacks in loud, crinkly bags. The ones that make everything really orange are his favorites."
no subject
Break has no illusions about this. And he is not going to conjure Qrow another one, because he enjoys this whole thing where at any given time he can dangle the notion of Lunch™ in front of him and chances are high Qrow will flap right back into his arms without question.
Look. It works.
"That does sound like a lovely curse to cast on somebody, though, doesn't it? If one was of a mind to cast curses. Never-ending spicy dust on your fingers, everything you touch turns orange."
no subject
Oscar chimed in, teasing. The easiest way to get to Qrow as through his stomach, and he was pleased to know that Break understood this.
"Takes a little worry off of me. I was sending him little casseroles a lot before we all moved into the same place. It's a lot easier to make sure people are eating right this way."
He grinned-- but it only lasted a moment before the delight melted into something more aghast at Break's words.
"That really is a horrible curse. Orange handprints everywhere. The doorknobs, the cabinets, the bathroom....."
He made a face. It was terrifying to imagine!
no subject
This is actually a very apt and self-aware description of Xerxes Break. He does have a winning personality. It's just that if Break is winning probably everyone around him is suffering in some fashion.
"Anyway, that's what all this is for," he says, getting back to the main point and gesturing at the movie. "Books are lovely and all, but to be able to see the goings-on in these sorts of stories, it's a way for me to learn what's possible in the first place, you know? For instance, this one has me thinking of transforming things into other things, rather than dreaming things up from scratch. To make something out of nothing is a lot of work and concentration for me. But if something out of something could be done more quickly and with distractions, it'll be much more useful for the sorts of situations I find myself in. As I'm really just beginning, I have a great deal of this sort of business to sort through."
no subject
Color Oscar shocked-- even if everyone else suffered from Break's whims, in many ways he rode the glittering waves of chaos in much the same way that Ruby could. Where singing princess afternoons as a form of research really quite so different from Ruby's ongoing tales of the drama with General Henstable and the other Chickens in her dream serial Clucks of Our Lives?
He looked between Break and the television, then back to Break as the startlingly rational explanation of his reasoning continued. As whimsical as the movies seemed, the 'madness' suddenly made sense. Oscar grinned.
"Does this mean that you're going to be turning mice into horses and pumpkins into carriages one of these days?" He laughed at the thought. "I guess that does make sense. And, it's a good thought. Maybe I should try watching more of these movies with you, to get a few ideas."